The Weight of Blood

Maddy tells Papa that Kenny asked her to prom, and he slaps her, angry that she’s “lustful” for a Black man. He demands she go to her prayer closet, but she refuses and makes the candle flames grow larger. Papa is shocked and calls her a witch. Maddy says it’s a gift. He repeatedly orders her to go to the prayer closet; she refuses.

Jules and Brady drink in the parking lot of Jules’s father’s hardware store. Jules met Brady at the store, where he was working. Using Jules’s dad’s keys and Brady’s knowledge of how to disable the alarm system, they break into the store and steal two cans of paint so that Jules can create another racist bullying spectacle at prom.

Wendy reassures herself that Kenny loves her and not Maddy and that getting a milkshake isn’t a big deal.

The podcast interviews a physicist, Dr. Englert, who investigated how the Springville power plant malfunctioned after prom. Normally, when the power goes out, backup generators automatically shut down the reactors. In this case, the generators didn’t work. Police were busy at prom, so there was nobody to call for an emergency evacuation of the town. Dr. Englert says the reactors seemed to be drawn to a magnet that made them overheat. It seems like the “magnet” was Maddy because the issue got worse as she moved closer to the power plant.

Kenny works out with Wendy but is thinking of Maddy. He resents that he’s expected to love and prioritize both Wendy and football rather than what he wants: intellectual freedom and companionship. Kali argues that Maddy has light-skinned privilege; Kenny argues that it’s not fair to expect everyone to be Black in the same way, and he doesn’t think it was Maddy’s decision to pass for white. Kali thinks there is always a choice. Kenny thinks everyone, including himself, has to make choices for survival. Instead of shutting Maddy out, Kali could help her. This suggestion ends the argument, and they hug.

Maddy peels away some of the photographs Papa pasted up in her closet and finds occult symbols carved in the walls. She hopes her mother didn’t worship Satan because she views her power as a gift. Maddy reviews her mother’s notebook, where her birthday is recorded, suggesting she didn’t die in childbirth after all. Maddy’s father hasn’t spoken to her in days. She wants to start living a normal life as an openly biracial teenager, but he wants her to leave his house because she’s a witch. Maddy is hurt Papa lied to her, but he’s her only family. She threatens to tell people the truth about his behavior if he kicks her out. Then she sets up the hot comb to fix her hair.

Kenny plays catch with his friends for what he thinks might be the last time—he will leave earlier than others for college due to pre-season football training. Jason is mad that Kenny doesn’t want to play football, but his coach forbade him from doing anything (besides specific training) that might cause injuries. Jason is also upset Kenny is taking Maddy to prom. Kenny leaves. He is developing feelings for Maddy and wants to protect her from bullies and racism. He again finds Maddy in the library watching Civil Rights Movement videos. They go for a drive and then hike to a waterfall, which Kenny loves but has never shown to Wendy. They discuss football, family, food, and how it’s difficult to have to pretend to be someone else.

Wendy and others prepare the decorations for integrated prom at the Barn. Wendy also prepares the ballots for prom king and queen, which include Maddy and Kenny as options.

The podcast interviews Caleb Adler and Kit Bernaski, more telekinesis experts. They say that belief in it is definitely necessary and also that everything is made of atoms, which are controlled by forces that people can manipulate with their minds. Kit’s theory is that because Maddy had little interaction with other humans or modern media until she was a preteen, she was better able to unlock her telekinetic powers than most people because she didn’t have the same level of doubt. Caleb thinks Maddy was not human because her telekinetic powers were greater than what they usually see. He believes she was some sort of witch and that she studied the wrong thing (telekinesis), resulting in her losing control of her powers and causing mass destruction.

In 2014, Maddy shops for a prom dress using the $15 she’s saved over the course of her life. She runs into Kali, who helps her pick one. Texas A&M posts on Twitter that they’ve rescinded Jules’s admission. Kali sent the photo of Jules in blackface to the media. Kali has also been bullied by Jules and her friends. She reports back to Kenny that Maddy chose a black dress.

Now that Jules feels her future has been ruined, she worries even less about her racist pranks because she doesn’t have much left to lose. She hears her dad and his friends discussing their own racist pranks, which give her the idea for the paint. Jules and Brady sneak into the Barn while it’s empty and place the paint cans in position so that, on the night of prom, they can spill the paint onto whoever is crowned prom queen. Brady questions how Jules can make sure Maddy is elected prom queen; Jules says her friends will help her.